Dozens of people living in the Astorwood Apartments found orange city stickers on their doors Tuesday, warning them not to enter their homes because they were "dangerous" and "unsafe."

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Code enforcement took the action after the regional property manager for Friedman Integrated Real Estate Group stopped returning their calls about code violations and mold complaints two weeks ago, city officials said. Residents said their air-conditioning vents spewed black mold spores, they were coughing and having other mold related issues, and complaints were ignored for months, and in some cases, years.

A man who said he was a maintenance worker for the apartments claimed he sprayed bleach on walls and then painted them from January until he fell ill himself with a lung infection in May. But he said management forbade him from using the word "mold" in front of renters.

"Organic growth. That’s what they called mold," said the man, who didn’t want his name used. "But they steadily wanted us to rent apartments."

The man said most of the roofs leaked and one was repaired with a tarp.

One woman said the regional property manager told her the mold on her bedroom walls was from her cigarette smoking. The woman, who has two small children, said she doesn’t smoke.

"My daughter has asthma - well, she used to occasionally. Since we’ve been here, she sleeps with the inhaler next to her bed," she said.

A woman who answered the phone for Friedman said the manager was not available.

A city spokesman said the officials finally heard back from the management company Tuesday and were not evicting residents.

Benjamin Hogarth said the city was analyzing the situation and asking the company to provide a report listing what it was doing to fix the violations, and to also have the units tested for mold.

The city has scheduled a meeting for residents on Nov. 10.

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AND TERRI, THE PEOPLE LIVING
THERE SAY THEY'VE COMPLAINED FOR
MONTHS BUT NOTHING HAS BEEN
DONE.
TERRI: EVEN FOUR YEARS.
THEIR HOUSES ARE FILLED WITH
MOLD, THE AIR-CONDITIONING IS
SUBSTANDARD, AND LOOK THEY DO
NOT EVEN HAVE ANY LIGHTS OUT
HERE IN THE COMMON AREA OR THE
PARKING LO
I SPOKE TO ONE FORMER
MAINTENANCE MAN WHO SAYS HE GOT
SO SICK HE WAS HOSPITALIZED.
THIS MOTHER OF TWO SMALL
CHILDREN DOESN'T WANT TO SHOW
HER FACE, BUT SHOWS US THE MOLD
GROWING AROUND ALL OF HER AIR
CONDITIONING VENTS.
DO YOU FEEL ANY EFFECTS FROM I
>> OH, WE GET HEADACHES ALL THE
TIME.
TERRI: HER DAUGHTER SLEEPS WITH
AN INHALER BY THEIR BED, ALL OF
THEIR THROATS ARE RASPY, BUT SHE
SAYS THE MANAGEMENT HERE AT
ASTORWOOD APARTMENTS BRUSHES OFF
THEIR COMPLAINTS
>> AND THEY WOULD SAY NO, IT'S
NOTHING, NOTHING, NOTHING.
AND THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON
ALMOST TWO YEARS.
>> WHAT BOTHERED ME WAS THESE
PEOPLE WERE RENTING THE UNITS
KNOWING THEY WERE INFESTED WIT
MOLD AND THERE WERE KIDS.
TERRI: JULIO DOESN'T WANT TO USE
HIS LAST NAME.
HE SAYS HE WORKED HERE AS A
MAINTENANCE MAN FROM JANUARY TO
MAY WHEN HE FELL ILL WITH A LUNG
INFECTION AND WAS FIRED AFTER HE
GOT OUT OF THE HOSPITAL.
>> THE WORK THEY HAD ME DOING
WAS MOLD REMOVAL WHICH WAS JUS
BLEACHING THE APARTMENTS BEFORE
THEY WERE BEING PAINTED.
TERRI: AND HE SAYS HE WASN'T
ALLOWED TO SAY THE M-WORD IN
FRONT OF RENTERS
>> ORGANIC GROWTH.
TERRI: THAT'S WHAT THEY CALLED
MOLD
>> YES.
AND RENT AS MUCH AS YOU CAN.
TERRI: RESIDENTS SHOWED US UNIT
AFTER UNIT WITH MOLD AND OTHER
CODE VIOLATIONS.
EARLIER TUESDAY THEY FOUND
ORANGE STICKERS FROM THE CITY
WARNING THEM THEIR UNITS WERE
UNSAFE.
MANY WANT DESPERATELY TO LEAVE
BUT CAN'T AFFORD IT.
>> FIRST, LAST, SECURITY, YOU'RE
TALKING $3000.
YOU PAY $940 HERE, SIX MONTH
WAITING LIST TO FIND A PLACE.
TERRI: THE CITY SAYS IT HAS BEEN
ASSURED PROBLEMS WERE BEING
FIXED, BUT PUT UP THE STICKERS
AFTER THE REGIONAL PROPERTY
MANAGER QUIT RETURNING THEIR
CALLS.
FOR NOW THEY'RE LETTING PEOPLE
STAY, BUT REQUIRING THE FRIEDMAN
INTEGRATED REAL ESTATE GROUP TO
COME UP WITH SOME ANSWERS AND A
MOLD TESTING STUDY.
>> WE ARE CURRENTLY NOT EVICTING
RESIDENTS, NOT AT ALL.
IT'S BASICALLY JUST BEING
ANALYZED BY THE CITY.
TERRI: WE DID REACH UP TO THE
FRIEDMAN REGIONAL INTEGRATED
GROUP TODAY BUT WE WERE TOLD THE
REGIONAL MANAGER WAS UNAVAILABLE
TO TALK TO US OR ANSWER ANY
QUESTIONS HERE THAT COMPANY
MANAGES THIS APARTMENT BUILDING
FOR OUT OF STATE OWNERS.
THE CITY, MEANWHILE, IS GOING TO
HOLD A MEETING NOVEMBER TEST FOR
THE RESIDENTS TO TRY TO BRING
THEM UP TO DATE ON WHAT THE CITY
IS DOING AFTER THEY REQUIRED
THAT MOLD TEST.
IN THE MEANTIME, WE CAN ONLY